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Think Only the Rich Will Pay More Taxes After Fiscal Cliff Agreement? You're Wrong
CNBC ^ | 01/11/2013 | Eamon Javers

Posted on 01/11/2013 1:28:40 PM PST by SeekAndFind

You followed all of the debate over the fiscal cliff and were relieved to hear that taxes were only going up for the rich this year.

Well, you were wrong.

Because neither party wanted to defend it, the temporary payroll tax cut enacted under Obama died at the end of 2012, which means that everyone in the country will see a bigger tax bite out of their paychecks this year. So when you get your first check of the year, look at the amount charged under "FICA" – you're going to be paying more than you did in December.

How big a bite is it? For many middle class workers, it will work out to a trip to the grocery store or a tank of gas less every two weeks this year.

Here are the numbers.

For a single person making $60,000 per year who's paid bi-weekly, gross income in a paycheck is $2,307.69.

n December, you would have had to subtract from that federal withholding taxes of $403. 56. FICA taxes were $96.93. Medicare was $33.46. State withholding for a person living in Maryland was $177.35.

That gives the taxpayer net pay in one check in December of $1,596.39.

So what happens this month?

Gross pay is the same, as are the Medicare and state taxes. But FICA taxes go up sharply – to $143.08. That's a $46.15 bite from the political decision to allow the payroll tax cut to expire.

(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: fiscalcliff; rich; taxes

1 posted on 01/11/2013 1:28:50 PM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

I don’t buy the argument that the FICA taxes going up constitute a tax hike.

Those were INTENDED to be a temporary measure and was only for show. It wouldn’t do much to stimulate the economy and would DRAIN money from social security and medicare ( where it was always intended for ).

Let’s talk about INCOME TAXES. That’s where the issues lies.


2 posted on 01/11/2013 1:31:13 PM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

Obama voters = idiots (but we knew that).


3 posted on 01/11/2013 1:32:19 PM PST by Jim Robinson (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God!!)
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To: SeekAndFind

Just got my first 2013 pay stub.

Fed Inc Tax - Increased 9%
Fed Medic Tax - Increased .05%
Fed Soc Sec Tax - Increased 55%
Healthcare Ins - Increased 95%

My monthly net pay will decrease by $340.


4 posted on 01/11/2013 1:41:19 PM PST by ryan71 (Water, food and ammo.)
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To: SeekAndFind

It’s interesting that the media made so little fuss about this.
Didn’t want anything to interfere with their celebration of the ‘tax hikes’ in it.


5 posted on 01/11/2013 1:43:04 PM PST by mrsmith (Dumb sluts: Lifeblood of the Media, Backbone of the Democrat Party!)
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To: SeekAndFind
RE :”Because neither party wanted to defend it, the temporary payroll tax cut enacted under Obama died at the end of 2012, which means that everyone in the country will see a bigger tax bite out of their paychecks this year. So when you get your first check of the year, look at the amount charged under “FICA” – you're going to be paying more than you did in December. “

More FICA whining??? Boo-hoo-hoo LOL

Neither party wanted these extended again, certainly not Rs.
In a way this particular tax cut/tax holiday was a handout.

I always thought it was stupid to cut this, but it was politically smart of O to demand it the last two years of his first term leading to his re-election.

6 posted on 01/11/2013 1:47:22 PM PST by sickoflibs (Losing to O is NO principle!)
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To: ryan71

With > 50 % of households living paycheck to paycheck
This will have an immediate impact on our consumer economy.

More layoffs ahead and more will see hours cut.


7 posted on 01/11/2013 1:49:54 PM PST by jonose
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To: SeekAndFind

I handed out paychecks at 12:30 PM today to employees in my samll company. At 12:35 PM, I had an employee in my face demanding to know why her pay had decreased $30. I explained about the payroll taxes, but I thought to myself that she doesn’t know how lucky she is. I just told her that she should pay attention to the news. That we all knew this would happen before the election.

Neither my husband, nor I, have taken a personal pay check for more than a year to keep this little company afloat. But MY payroll taxes were jacked up $2000 a month because of the Obama 99 weeks of unemployment benefits that have been in effect. I’ve got people who left here nearly 2 years ago still collecting Unemployment Compensation, and that has skewed my ratios so that I’ve been hit with a fine. The owners not taking paychecks plays into that too because if we’re not paying into the fund and people who left here months ago are still collecting, everything becomes unbalanced and somebody has to make up that money.

I have people who quit, went to another company, got laid off, and their unemployment compensation has bounced back to me because they perhaps worked here several years and only worked at the new company a couple of months.


8 posted on 01/11/2013 1:53:23 PM PST by afraidfortherepublic
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To: afraidfortherepublic

My commiserations.

Just curious, what type of business do you run?


9 posted on 01/11/2013 1:56:57 PM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

The Dems are already working on a “fix” for this.

- Exempt the first $25-30K of income from payroll taxes altogether

- Apply FICA to very high levels of income beyond the current $113K cap (perhaps to every last dime)

This would leave low income people paying NO payroll tax, middle-income people a reduced rate, and those Eeeeeeevil Rich get soaked. Politically they think it works for them.


10 posted on 01/11/2013 1:57:33 PM PST by Buckeye McFrog
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To: SeekAndFind

everyone knows the left are tax and spend- even htose who voted for him- but they don’t care- as long as they ‘git their $200 dollar a year stimulus check, the preasident can do whatevr he wants-


11 posted on 01/11/2013 2:07:02 PM PST by CottShop (Scientific belief does not constitute scientific evidence, nor does it convey scientific knowledge)
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To: SeekAndFind

We are a small, custom electronics manufacturer. We mostly make sensors for oil exploration and water treatment facilities. We used to have a much broader range of products, but most of that work has dried up.

What my employee who complained about the $30 extra FICA taxes taken from her pay check hasn’t realized yet is that she’s going to get docked in her 2nd job too. I don’t know who she voted for, but her hubby is a Union grunt and I’ve never seen them at any Republican rallies, if you know what I mean! And her hubby is going to get docked big time.


12 posted on 01/11/2013 2:21:35 PM PST by afraidfortherepublic
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To: afraidfortherepublic

99.9% of people who collect unemployment don’t realize it is the employer who pays their unemployment. And don’t realize for every person collection your % contribution goes up

and sure 0dumbo said HE was extending unemployment bennies, whey not it doesn’t come out of his pay.

but I don’t get why you’d be penalized for someone who quit. I know you wouldn’t in Texas.
I say you should fight it


13 posted on 01/11/2013 2:33:21 PM PST by RWGinger (Simpl)
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To: afraidfortherepublic

You should have given her the number to the white house and said “I think you’re right to be upset. Here’s the number of someone you can call to get something done about it.”


14 posted on 01/11/2013 3:03:16 PM PST by Terry Mross (People who hate me read my posts and get angry. Yet they can't look away. Brilliant, huh.)
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To: SeekAndFind

The rich have their money off shore or protected. We pay more taxes. The super rich will pay nothing or will be excluded like always. Obama started his younger days as a Marxist. He is now an part of the World Elite. He is in the big club with Harry and Nancy.


15 posted on 01/11/2013 3:10:42 PM PST by bmwcyle (We have gone over the cliff and we are about to hit the bottom)
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To: RWGinger

Doesn’t do any good in Wisconsin. I’ve tried to fight it in the past, and the arbitration board always decides in favor of the employee. I’ve had to pay unemployment for gross insubordination and all kinds of other grievous behavior. Even when I’ve had written letter of resignation, I’ve had to pay in certain cases.

But that is not the case here. These folks honestly quit. Maybe they had 3 years here as an employee. Then they took a job elsewhere, worked a couple of months, and got laid off. The way the law works in Wisconsin, once they’ve used up their benefits earned at company #2, their Unemployment Compensations reverts to company #1 (me) until all their benefits are used up. By extending benefits to 99 weeks, Obama just extended the length of time my company had to pay for the chronically unemployed.

I used to handle all of that paperwork myself, but it got to be too much. So, I outsourced dealing with Unemployment to my Payroll service last year, and they didn’t mention that some of these folks were lingering on and on. They only notify me when the employee first files.

One lady does not ever intend to come back here, I’m sure. She was laid off (but she only worked part time in the first place). Whenever we’ve called her recently (when we’ve had work for her) she’s said that she’s too old and her eyes won’t allow her to do the fine soldering and touch up she was so good at. She can run one of our machines, but we never use that machine any more. She’s just going to collect until all her benefits expire, I’m sure. Another one works full time as a babysitter for one of her children.

All of this shilly shallying has put my Unemployment account out of balance, and now I’m paying! Big time!


16 posted on 01/11/2013 3:12:31 PM PST by afraidfortherepublic
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To: RWGinger

Doesn’t do any good in Wisconsin. I’ve tried to fight it in the past, and the arbitration board always decides in favor of the employee. I’ve had to pay unemployment for gross insubordination and all kinds of other grievous behavior. Even when I’ve had written letter of resignation, I’ve had to pay in certain cases.

But that is not the case here. These folks honestly quit. Maybe they had 3 years here as an employee. Then they took a job elsewhere, worked a couple of months, and got laid off. The way the law works in Wisconsin, once they’ve used up their benefits earned at company #2, their Unemployment Compensations reverts to company #1 (me) until all their benefits are used up. By extending benefits to 99 weeks, Obama just extended the length of time my company had to pay for the chronically unemployed.

I used to handle all of that paperwork myself, but it got to be too much. So, I outsourced dealing with Unemployment to my Payroll service last year, and they didn’t mention that some of these folks were lingering on and on. They only notify me when the employee first files.

One lady does not ever intend to come back here, I’m sure. She was laid off (but she only worked part time in the first place). Whenever we’ve called her recently (when we’ve had work for her) she’s said that she’s too old and her eyes won’t allow her to do the fine soldering and touch up she was so good at. She can run one of our machines, but we never use that machine any more. She’s just going to collect until all her benefits expire, I’m sure. Another one works full time as a babysitter for one of her children.

All of this shilly shallying has put my Unemployment account out of balance, and now I’m paying! Big time!


17 posted on 01/11/2013 3:12:31 PM PST by afraidfortherepublic
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To: Buckeye McFrog

But, you can bet your bottom dollar that the employer will still have to pay. Somebody has to be responsible for filling those SS and Medicare coffers.


18 posted on 01/11/2013 3:15:14 PM PST by afraidfortherepublic
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To: SeekAndFind

People are so dumb, they don’t realize that the tax that they wanted isn’t tied to inflation, and as fast as the fed is printing money, they all will be the hated rich.


19 posted on 01/11/2013 4:51:15 PM PST by liliesgrandpa (Just out of curiosity, is there any possible GOP candidate that is too repugnant for you to support?)
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To: SeekAndFind

People are so dumb, they don’t realize that the tax that they wanted isn’t tied to inflation, and as fast as the fed is printing money, they all will be the hated rich.


20 posted on 01/11/2013 4:51:36 PM PST by liliesgrandpa (Just out of curiosity, is there any possible GOP candidate that is too repugnant for you to support?)
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